In testimony before the New York City Campaign Finance board Thursday, February 13, Michael J. Malbin said that New York City’s small donor matching fund program has been a notable success in bringing a new and more diverse set of donors into the system, particularly in elections for City Council. But he also said the city should consider some changes moving forward.

The Campaign Finance Institute’s executive director, Michael J. Malbin was invited to submit written testimony on October 28 to New York State’s Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, to be followed by a question-and-answer meeting at a date to be determined. Malbin is also a Professor of Political Science at the University at Albany, SUNY.

The Campaign Finance Institute’s executive director, Michael J. Malbin, testified on small-donor matching funds on May 20 before a hearing held by the New York State Senate’s Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) in Albany, NY. Malbin is also a Professor of Political Science at the University at Albany, SUNY.

Mystery solved. New York State’s Senate Republicans on April 24 finally released the background for their “estimated” cost of a public matching fund system in New York State. Their paper presented the cost as being $221.55 million per election cycle.

Updated CFI Research on State and Local Elections:
New 2012 Data Reinforces Previous Findings;
Public Matching Funds in NY State, Reversing the Financial Influence of Small & Large Donors, Would Leave the Candidates “Whole” While Costing New Yorkers only $2/year

The Campaign Finance Institute (CFI) is releasing its analysis of the number of donors who contributed to gubernatorial and state legislative election candidates in 2006 and 2010, the two most recent elections in which most states held both sets of elections. Data were provided by the National Institute on Money in State Politics. Methods and definitions are presented after the main findings and tables.

A new report jointly released today by the Campaign Finance Institute of Washington DC and the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law offers powerful evidence that New York City's public financing system has contributed to a fundamental change in the relationship between candidates and their donors. With the program in place, there has been a dramatic increase in the number and diversity of the city’s residents who participate in the process.

New York State’s Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has proposed a system of public matching funds for state elections similar to New York City’s. The nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute (CFI) today released a paper evaluating his claim that importing something like the city’s program is likely to bring greater participation and equality to the state’s campaign finance system.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on January 4 asked the New York State legislature to enact a system of public campaign financing for state elections that would be based on New York City’s successful matching fund system for city elections.
Michael J. Malbin, executive director of the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute in Washington DC, and a professor of political science at the University at Albany (SUNY), said that “if Gov. Cuomo’s proposal is enacted, it could well become a model for campaign finance laws across the nation.”